Strangers in a Strange Land
by NeteleJala
Summary: Set at the end of season 13, follows the life of Ryan (Maggie's friend who is questioned after her death) after escaping Apocalypse World as she settles into life in the bunker. Cannon story from behind the scenes.
1. Chapter 1

**I've had this rolling around in my brain for awhile now, It is set at the end of Season 13 as everyone returns from Apocalypse World, Ryan is Maggie's friend we meet after Maggie is killed and Sam, Dean, Cass and Jack are looking for clues. This story will follow her as a behinds-the-scenes character in the cannon universe (I might have to take some liberties...) As usual, I don't own anything.**

Ryan's head spun. In a matter of hours her whole world had literally disappeared, but she wasn't upset, actually she was ecstatic. She stood under the warm flow of the shower letting years of dirt and grime run off her. She couldn't remember the last time she had a shower. For the last ten years most people were lucky if they could wash themselves with a clean rag every once in awhile.

Ryan turned the shower off, not wanting the bliss to end, but conscience that the others wanted to shower as well. As she dried off, she thought about the events that led to her present situation. It started months ago when the Nilphilim boy, Jack, and Mary Winchester had showed up. At first she had rejoiced at the boys ability to repel angel attacks, but when she learned that he was a Nilphilim she vowed never to be alone with him. Others had welcomed him with open arms even calling him "the savior" when he wasn't around, but she had her doubts. She knew first hand how devious angels could be…

She shuddered at her knowledge of the angels' tricks and focused on untangling her long black hair. Many women in the camp had chosen to cut their hair short for easier care, but she had kept hers reasonably long by keeping it tied up and brushing it daily. Her hairbrush was one of her only personal possessions and the feeling of running it through her hair always brought back memories of better times when she was a small girl and her mother would brush her hair before bed while telling her stories. Some days were harder than others to think about her mother, father and sister and the small San Francisco apartment they shared, but she preferred the pain to the idea of forgetting them altogether. Once her hair was tangle free she wrapped it in the towel.

Ryan looked at the dirty, ripped clothes she had shed before stepping into the shower. She loathed the idea of putting them back on, but the idea of walking around this-what did they call it?- bunker, in only a towel made her skin crawl. She reluctantly got dressed and left the bathroom. There was a line forming and she smiled at Maggie who was waiting next to the door. She had met Maggie yesterday when she showed up with Dean Winchester and a couple of angels. They had fought their way through a tunnel of vamps losing Dean's brother, Sam, and Maggie's traveling companion, Floyd, along the way. Ryan had tried to console Maggie as she grieved for her friend, but not much can heal wounds like that. Before she could find Maggie a place to bunk, the whole camp was in an uproar as the dead brother, Sam, showed up with none other than Lucifer. The camp was quickly inundated with rumors of leaving this world for another reality where angel attacks were unheard of; a world like theirs from a decade ago.

Ryan made her way back to the main hall of the bunker to find Bobby. He was hunched over the table with Sam; beer bottles littered the table and machines around the room, thanks to the party they had upon arrival. Ryan looked around at the mess and started to collect bottles. The sound alerted Bobby and Sam to her presence and they turned to look at her. "Ah, good." Bobby said, turning back to Sam, "This is Ryan she one of the best damn cooks I ever met."

"Nice to meet you," Sam smiled as he offered his hand to Ryan. Ryan tried to return his smile while shaking his hand, but the thought of him being brought back from the dead by the devil wouldn't let her. "We could use a cook around here, if you plan to stay, that is?"

Ryan didn't know what to say, she hadn't really thought about what she wanted to do next. Hell, yesterday the idea of a hot shower was a pipe dream. Ryan stood rooted to the spot her hand still in Sam's, not sure what to say or do.

"You don't have to make any decisions tonight," Bobby added. "We were just arranging sleeping assignments. We're going to have to double up for awhile, but everyone will have a bed...a real bed." Bobby grinned and Ryan smiled for real this time. "I hope you won't mind rooming with Maggie, you're both single and…" he trailed off, not sure how to nicely add 'and broken' to the end of his statement.

Ryan nodded knowingly, saving Bobby from any further embarrassment. Sam looked between Bobby and Ryan, but let it remain unsaid. "We assigned you to room 17. It's down the hall to the right."

Ryan nodded, finally finding her voice, "Thanks, would you like me to make dinner? Where is the kitchen?"

Bobby smiled again and shook his head. "No, Dean and Mary went to get pizza and more beer. Unpack. Rest. We'll figure this out." Ryan nodded and headed down the hall towards her room.

Room 17 looked like all the others, brick walls, Art Deco style table and chair, and two cots. Ryan put her backpack down next to the cot on the left side of the room and sat on the bed. '_Unpack? What do I have to unpack, my hairbrush? I don't even have a change of clothes." _She had been in such a rush to make sure the kids were ready to go that she forgot to pack herself clothes. Ryan looked at her nearly empty backpack and shook her head. She removed the wet towel from her hair and hung it over the chair. She needed to check on the kids, most would be with their families, but Amanda, Liam and Raj were alone, like her.

Ryan left the room, heading back to find Bobby and ask where the children were staying. As she passed the bathroom she ran into Maggie coming out, looking a lot cleaner, but just as traumatized. "Maggie, hey," Ryan flagged her down, "We're roommates, at least for tonight. Room 17 just up the hall."

"Right, thanks" Maggie muttered heading towards where Ryan was pointing. Ryan contemplated returning to the room with her so they could talk, maybe get Maggie to open up a bit, but decided that she needed time and space more than anything and that Ryan needed to know the kids were being looked after.

She made it to the great hall, just as Dean and Mary returned with the pizza and beer. "Pizza's here," Dean called "Byong Sun is safe." Dean chuckled to himself.

"Really, _Kicking and Screaming_? Not sure these people ever saw that movie." Sam scoffed. Dean shrugged and put the boxes on the table, Mary set down a case of beer next to it and people started streaming into the room. Ryan made her way over to Bobby who was still talking with Sam.

"Bobby, where are the kids staying?" Ryan asked.

"There bunking with their families, you looking for someone specific?" Bobby replied.

"What about Amanda, Liam and Raj?"

Bobby grinned, "You got a soft spot for those three trouble makers." Sam looked confused and Bobby explained, "Ryan was a teacher before the fall, besides being a great cook she ran the school at the camp." Sam smiled wide and Bobby continued, "A couple of the kids lost their folks and Ryan looks out for them like they are her own."

Sam nodded and looked at the list he a Bobby were making. "We assigned them to room 18, just across from you. There are 2 sets of bunks in there."

"Thanks," Ryan smiled and headed back down the hall to see if the kids had cleaned up and let them know the food had arrived.

**Thanks for reading, please leave a review**


	2. Chapter 2

**The reason I am fascinated with this story line is the way they survived in Apocalypse World. I see it as the ultimate survivalist/time travel to past, where people must produce everything they need to live and live on what they can produce. Consequentially, this story will highlight things we take for granted that Apocalypse World lacked.**

"Am not!" Liam yelled as Ryan entered the room. His older sister, Amanda, glared down at him with her hands on her hips. Liam matched her glare but, being a foot shorter made his defiant stance look more funny than menacing. Raj sat quietly on the bottom bunk behind Liam, swinging his legs as he watched the siblings.

"Oh, good," Amanda sighed, upon seeing Ryan enter. "Can you please explain to him that he is too small to sleep on the top bunk. She pleaded.

Ryan smiled, "_kids…"_ she thought shaking her head before taking a big breath and saying, "Liam you are only 4, you should sleep on the bottom bunk."

"But why does she get to sleep on the top?" Liam whined.

Ryan smiled and knelled down next to the skinny little boy. His face was still dirty and his blond hair unkempt; he had skipped the line for the shower. _Then again, he probably doesn't know what a shower is… _Ryan thought. She pushed the amusing idea of teaching the kids how to use a bathroom to the back of her mind and answered, "Your sister is 9 years old and we have to share rooms so, someone has to sleep on the top bunk. Besides," Ryan added with a wink, "If one of you fell out of bed and got hurt I'd rather it was not you." Liam smiled at Ryan and moved over to sit on the bottom bunk opposite of Raj.

Amanda grinned at having got her way and climbed up to the bed over her brother's. Ryan stood up and said, "Looks like none of you have showered."

"What?" Raj asked.

Ryan smiled, "This place has working bathrooms, complete with toilets and running water." The kids stared at her blankly. "Come on, I'll show you how to use them and you can clean up before eating."

"What's for dinner?" asked Liam.

"Potato soup, duh," Raj replied, before Ryan could answer. "It's always potato soup, with whatever animal they trapped."

"Actually," Ryan grinned "It's pizza."

"Pizza?!" Amanda shouted, "Dad used to talk about pizza. Whenever the food supplies were low he would reminisce about eating a whole... pie, I think he called it."

"Yep, no potatoes, just bread, cheese and tomato sauce." Ryan added, "You can top it with anything you like, my favorite was pineapple and olive, but lots of people like it with meat too."

"Like roasted rabbit?" Raj asked

"Actually, more like sausage, pepperoni, ham and chicken."

"They eat chickens?" Liam asked his eyes going wide. He had been responsible for feeding the chickens back at camp while Amanda checked for eggs.

"Yes, this world has a surplus of food compared to home," Ryan explained. "They have chickens that lay eggs AND chickens to eat."

"I've eaten chicken," Raj added. "A couple years ago one of the hens got old and there was some sort of celebration. You cooked it over the fire and everyone talked about how it reminded them of Thanksgiving."

"I remember that too," Amanda added, not wanting to be left out. "Liam was just a baby, I don't think he was even eating food at that point." Liam frowned, he hated being reminded that he was the youngest.

Ryan nodded, "Yes, but the eggs the chickens laid were a better and more reliable source of protein, so we didn't kill the chickens to eat the meat."

"Like Nandi?" Raj asked looking gloomy

"Yes," Ryan agreed "Nandi was a great cow and her milk helped keep our camp strong. We would never have killed her for the meat."

"I miss her," Raj whispered.

"I know," Ryan put her hand on Raj's shoulder, "You looked after her so well, I bet she'll be there waiting when we return."

Raj looked up, "Return? I heard the grown-up say that without an arch-angel we can never return home."

Ryan took a deep breath, she had wanted to wait on talking about never getting home, but... "I know, but do you think Bobby will give up that easily? Or Mary? Or Jack? We'll get home someday. When we're ready."

"I hope not," Amanda muttered. Everyone looked at her, quizzically. "This place is amazing! No angel attacks, my own bed and pizza!" She explained.

Everyone smiled, although Ryan and Raj's smiles did not reach their eyes. "Let's go wash up and then you can try some pizza," Ryan added, "If you don't like it, I can always make potato soup…"

"No!" the kids all screamed together.

**Reviews are nice! Like/Hate/Disagree...let me know.**


	3. Chapter 3

Getting Liam out of the shower had been a pain and Ryan's clothes were now wet. The kids were fascinated by the "warm indoor rain" as Raj called it and had lots of questions about the toilet that Ryan couldn't answer. They all looked more presentable, with the dirt smears washed off their faces and clean-er clothes on. Ryan made a mental shopping list that included new pants and shoes for the kids, as well as a second outfit for herself. Raj's boots were more duct tape than boot and Liam's were at least 2 sizes too big, they only stayed on because she tied the extra laces around his ankles. Amanda's slim frame was swimming in a large adult shirt and Liam's pants were rolled up at the hem and cinched to his waist with a makeshift rope belt; making him look even skinnier than he was. Raj wore an extra long kurta that had belonged to his father and a pair of cinched salwar pants. Ryan had been impressed with the clothing's versatility and wished she owned more practical clothes.

By the time they got to the great hall most of the others had eaten and left, only a few remained, talking about what they planned on doing next. Ryan showed the kids to the pizza and then went to ask about glasses for water for the kids. The kids scrutinized the picked over pizza selection before deciding to go with the plain cheese. Amanda was the first to take a bite and as soon as she started chewing she moaned and closed her eyes in pleasure. The boys quickly bit into their pieces and moaned with excitement too. They all rushed to eat the rest of the slice so they could try another.

"What's their deal?" Dean asked looking at the kids shoveling pizza in as fast as they could. "You'd think they've never eaten before."

"Actually, this is the first time they've ever had pizza," Ryan explained returning with their drinks. Dean's jaw dropped in surprise and Sam's eyes widened. "They were all born after the fall. Luxuries like pizza didn't last long." She added.

"Pizza isn't a luxury; Pizza is a necessity." Dean said, regaining his composure, but still staring at the kids.

Ryan gave him a sympathetic smile and continued, "We ran out of real flour years ago, it was the apocalypse, farms stopped making food, plants stopped producing food, we lived on what we could forage."

"So what did you eat?" Dean asked, fearing the answer.

"Potatoes, lots and lots of potatoes and whatever meat we could find." Bobby sighed.

"Like Mars. Cool," Dean chuckled.

"There are people on Mars?!" Ryan exclaimed. Her mind raced, she had loved learning about space as a kid and had always wanted to be an astronaut.

"No, no," Sam held up his hands, "He's talking about the movie," everyone gave him a blank stare.

"The Martian?!" Dean exclaimed. "Won a bunch of awards, came out a few years ago...oh" He realized his mistake and quit talking.

"Yeah, there hasn't been any movies or TV since the fall... idgit." Bobby mocked.

Dean looked contrite until it suddenly dawned on him, "You mean those kids have never seen a movie?!"

"Didn't seem that important when your fighting to stay alive," Bobby added.

"Oh, man, we get to introduce them to everything, _Star Wars_ man!" Dean grinned from ear to ear.

"Dean," Sam chastised. "Not really important right now, man."

"When is _Star Wars_ not important?" Dean asked, but his enthusiasm was gone.

"Yeah," said Bobby. "If you don't have any arch angels here, there is no way we can get home, so what are we supposed to do?"

"The first thing is to find out if you are alive in this universe." Sam got down to business. Ryan's heart exploded with joy at the thought of seeing her parents and sister again, but just as quickly her heart sank into her stomach; these were not HER parents, these were the other her's parents, but…" Ryan was lost in thought when Dean's voice brought her back to the present.

"We could always use more hunters. Everyone of you has more experience than most the people we've met."

"They may not want to be hunters, Dean. They've had a hard time. Some of them might want to have a normal life." Sam said.

"Normal? Nothing about us being here is normal?" Bobby added.

"So, hunters all around then." Dean leaned back in his chair, smiling like he had solved all of life's problems.

"Not me." Ryan interjected. All the men turned to look at her. "I'm not a hunter. I don't like guns. I've never liked guns. I know hunters need them, but I don't want anything to do with them."

They continued to stare at her. "Then...how did you? I mean...what did you?" Sam stumbled.

Ryan's stomach clenched, she really didn't want to talk about her history. Bobby came to her rescue. "We rescued her from an angel kill squad about 4 years ago. She's been cooking and teaching at the camp ever since. Her cooking was so good, none of us wanted to risk her life on a mission."

"Right, so I bet you want to go home." Sam said.

"I don't have a home here and it's not like I can lead a normal life, I don't have any form of ID, any money or any career path." Ryan shrugged. "I'd like to look after the kids, too."

"The kids?" Dean pivoted back around to look at Amanda, Liam and Raj. They were sitting huddled on the floor tearing up slices of pizza and swapping them to taste everything. "Ain't no way they can stay here."

"Dean," Sam protested.

""What? They can't stay here. This is no place for kids. They should be in school, going to parties, stuff like that."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Ryan warned. "They know nothing about this world. All they have ever known is death and destruction. I just spent a half-hour teaching them the basics of how to use the bathroom. Sending them to school… they would be so far behind and so… Kids can be mean; they would be teased and taunted for their lack of normalcy." Everyone looked very somber as Ryan finished. "Besides, even if they go to school, where are they going to live? Foster care? Unless a lot has changed since the apocalypse anywhere is definitely better than that."

"Great, so now we are running a daycare?" Dean asked.

Ryan looked from Bobby to Sam to Mary, who had just entered the room, for support. They all looked back at her. She had brought it up, so they waited for her to respond. Ryan took a deep breath, "I will run the...daycare."

Everyone's attention shifted to Dean. Dean looked around the table and shrugged, "Okay, you want to do that? I mean, you're young, you don't like guns or hunting, we could set you up with an ID and you can do whatever you want."

"No," Ryan raised her voice so much the kids looked up from their pizza, towards where the adults were sitting. "I mean," she continued in a softer voice, "I'm not part of this world. I don't belong here. But I do belong with them," she said pointing towards the kids, "And I belong with my people."

Bobby smiled and tipped his beer to her. Ryan looked around waiting for someone to respond. The room was quiet for a minute, then Sam said, "We could use someone to cook."

"Yeah, Mom sure as hell can't." Dean added smiling. Everyone grinned, even Mary who mockingly glared at Dean. The tension in the room dissipated. "But what are the kids going to do here? I mean, it's not like this place was built with children in mind." Dean added.

"These kids know more about angels and demons than most hunters, it's not like they are going to be more scarred than they already are." Bobby said.

"Okay, but what about school?" Dean asked.

"They aren't ready to go to school. I mean everyone of us is a decade behind; we all need a crash course on this world." Ryan responded.

"You know, that's not a bad idea," Sam said. "We should set up a briefing with highlights on the current world."

"Not it." Dean quipped.

**Please leave a review (or even just follow), If I don't get any response I'm going to abandon this story...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Big, big thank you to CommunistUnicorn for the review! It gave me the motivation to write this chapter. This story is meant to be cannon, but it has a few big reveals like Ryan's mysterious past and a budding romance that will have a very, very slow burn that will most likely be a AU since I don't like end of season 14. I also took a little liberty the timeline between episodes. This chapter aligns with "Let the Good Times Roll" (Season 13 Finally).**

"The ice caps are melting. People marching. Little bit of craziness in the movie world. Businessman, billionaire, mogul, turned president, embroiled in yet another controversy. And that is pretty much the world, uh... our world." Sam finished summarizing.

Ryan chuckled at Bobby's response and ducked out of the room. She and Maggie had spent the morning scrounging through the kitchen for supplies to make breakfast. She had been working on a shopping list when Sam called the meeting. They had decided to leave the kids out of the briefing. Their parents would fill them in as needed, which left Ryan to tell the orphans.

Ryan nearly collided with Jack coming down the hall. Her heart skipped a beat and she flattened herself against the wall to let him pass. He was followed closely behind by Castiel. Jack was so excited that he barely noticed her, but Cas gave her a long puzzling glance as he passed. _Another angel,_ Ryan thought making her heart sink into her stomach.

Ryan composed herself and continued down the hall. Sam had given her some cash and Mary had provided with a car and directions to town. All she had to do was find Maggie and she could head out. Ryan had promised Maggie that she would drive her to town. Maggie had been tasked with doing laundry. Maggie was old enough to remember doing laundry with her mom, but not old enough to have driven a car, so Ryan was the chauffeur.

Ryan and Maggie had talked quite a bit the night before. Maggie had been generous enough to lend Ryan a clean shirt to sleep and they had both discussed what they planned on doing. Ryan recounted how she had volunteered to stay and take care of the orphans. Maggie was intrigued with the idea of hunting and planned to stick around for awhile.

Ryan dropped Maggie off at the laundromat with a bag of quarters they had scrounge up from around the bunker and four bags full of clothes. Ryan continued south to the town of Hays. She had learned from Mary that they was a Goodwill store there she could pick up some new clothes for herself and the kids. She had gotten requests for all sizes of jeans and T-shirts from other refuges as well. The drive took about 2 hours, but she was able to get herself a couple outfits and bunch of lightly used clothes for the others. It took most of her money, but she was happy with the haul.

Afterward she headed to Walmart to stock up on underwear then she made her way back to Ladow's Market in Lebanon to stock the pantry. Over breakfast they had taken a survey and it looked like the two families with kids would be leaving the bunker within the week. Others were sticking around, looking to become hunters while Damion was unsure. He had a daughter and wanted to protect her, but didn't know any life, but hunting. Ryan had talked to Damion about leaving his daughter, Kanisha, in her care while he was hunting. Since she had already agreed to watch Raj, Liam and Amanda adding one more wouldn't make much of a difference. It looked like Sam and Bobby would be running hunters central command for the time being and she would have to keep them fed.

After stocking up on the essentials (and getting a little sticker shock on the prices) Ryan headed over to the laundromat to pick up Maggie. She was surprised to find no one in the laundromat and she started to worry. Maggie went back to the car and found the phone Sam had lent her, she found it in the glove compartment and flipped it open (Sam had apologized for it being an old phone, but she was glad, because she actually knew how to use it). She saw a text from Maggie, _Done at George's Gas n Go._

Ryan took a deep breath and headed down the street to the convenience store. She found Maggie sipping an Icee and talking with young man working behind the counter. _No, _Ryan stopped as she saw Maggie laugh, _She's flirting!_ A smile spread across Ryan's face; it was nice to see Maggie flirting like a normal teenager. The boy finally noticed Ryan had entered the store and gave her a sheepish smile. Maggie turned to see her and blushed. Ryan smiled wider, _They are so cute!_

"I'm sorry," Maggie apologized to Ryan, "I finished with the laundry and... came in for a drink… and I met Nate...and we got to talking.

Ryan nodded as she smiled and replied, "No worries, I got the supplies. Where is the laundry?"

"Back at the laundromat. I...I didn't think I would be gone long…" Maggie's faced whitened with worry.

"No worries," Ryan said calmly, "No one was there when I checked a couple minutes ago. I'm sure it's fine, but we should head back."

Maggie nodded in agreement and turned back to Nate, "Sorry, I have to…"

"Understood," Nate said, his smile fading, "Will you be back, again?"

As grin spread across Maggie's face, "Yeah," she replied eagerly, "Maybe tonight?"

"Sounds good," Nate's smile returned as Maggie giggled and waved goodbye following Ryan out the door.

Once outside Ryan addressed Maggie, "You know you shouldn't go out at night, who knows what dangers await us in this world."

"I know," Maggie replied glumly, "But he is so nice and normal and…"

Ryan smirked _She's got it bad! _"I'm not your mother, so I'm not going to tell you want to do, but as a friend I want you to be safe."

"Thanks," Maggie said smiling at Ryan, it had been awhile since either of them had had true friends.

**As always, thank you for reading and please leave a review, they help me update more often!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks again to CommunistUnicorn for the review. Sorry this chapter is short, but I got a cold. This still takes place during "Let the Good Times Roll" (Season 13 ****finally****) **

"Word is your friends with Maggi," Dean started

"Uh, yeah, since we came over, me and her we didn't have anybody else so we kinda stuck together." Ryan said. She felt intimidated by the four men staring at her _And two of them are angels!_

"So I'm sure you know she went out last night," Sam said, calmly. "Well she didn't come home."

"Uhhh Is Maggie in trouble?" Ryan asked. No one had said they weren't allowed to leave, but she got the impression that these four were mad at Maggie for some reason.

"She's dead," Castiel stated flatly.

"She...no...that's not." Ryan was confused, this had to be a joke. "We were suppose to be safe here."

"We need to know where Maggie went, who she was talking to." Sam remained calm, hoping to get info.

"I don't..." Ryan was so shocked she couldn't think, but she knew that they were just looking for some answers and she wanted to help, Maggie deserved that. "There was a boy."

"What boy?" Jack asked. Ryan was surprised at the anger in his voice.

"Nate, he works out at that store on Route 281." Ryan answered. "Maggie she had a crush, that's why she snuck out last night, she was going to meet him." She wanted to explain, make them understand how much this normalcy meant to Maggie.

"Alright, well talk to this boy," Dean said, but Jack disappeared before anyone else could move. "Damn it!" Dean yelled as he turned to Castiel. Cas shrugged like _What I can't control him? _

"Let's go," Sam said getting up.

"Yeah, before he does anything stupid!" Dean glared as Cas as he turned to leave.

Castiel gave Ryan an apologetic glance as he followed Dean and Sam out of the room. Ryan remained at the table, shaken by the news of Maggie's death. She was roused from her grief and confusion by Amanda peering around the doorway. She forced a smile and asked, "Hey, what are you doing out of your room?"

"I wanted to know what was going on." Amanda admitted.

Ryan's face fell, _How much had she heard? Did she know about Maggie?! _ "How long have you been hiding?"

"Not long," Amanda hung her head, "I heard the guys leaving. Are you in trouble?"

Ryan relaxed, "No no they had some questions for me about Maggie." Ryan wanted to break the news of Maggie slowly.

"Oh," relief flooded Amanda's face, "I thought they wanted you to leave."

Ryan's heart broke at the fear she saw in Amanda's eyes. She crossed the room to be next to the girl. "I'm not leaving you."

Amanda hugged Ryan in a crushing embrace. Ryan held back tears, both happy and sad, as she clung to Amanda. Once she had steadied her voice Ryan said, "Would you like to help me make dinner?" Amanda looked up to her and nodded. Ryan smiled back, "Go get the boys we are going to need all the help we can get."

Amanda hurried out of the room and Ryan headed towards the galley. She wasn't sure why they called it a galley since they weren't on a ship, but wasn't going to waste time arguing. She stared gathering ingredients from the cupboards and waited for the pitter-patter of tiny feet (actually it was more like the thundering herd) coming down the hall. She smiled as Raj, Amanda and Liam slid into the room.

"What's for dinner?" Raj asked.

"Pizza?" Liam said hopefully.

"No," Ryan answered calmly, "I wanted to make momos with you like my mom used to make with me."

"Momos?" Amanda asked.

"They're like dumplings," Ryan replied.

"What are dumplings?" Raj asked.

Ryan paused before explaining, "They are little pouches of meat and vegetables wrapped in packets of dough." The kids still looked confused, but they nodded like they understood.

"First we need to mix the dough, we need flour and water," Ryan handed the bowl to Raj and the measuring cup to Amanda. She set the kids to various tasks mixing, kneading and cutting. Raj was very good at rolling out the dough and Ryan was surprised by how well Liam did at measuring the filling and sealing up the dumplings. She hadn't made these many momos since the Lunar New Year before the end of the world and soon nearly every surface in the kitchen was covered.

Suddenly Bobby rushed into the room. "Quick, take the kids and get back to your room. Don't go through the library." Ryan looked at him, puzzled. Bobby looked between her and kids, who were now frozen in fear, debating on what to say in front of them. "Lucifer."

Everything froze. No one took a breath while they tried to understand Bobby's meaning. Ryan locked eyes with him and knew that things were bad. He had a phone in his hand and started dialing. Ryan gathered the kids together and started herding them through the other door. She heard Bobby's voice as they left the room, "Sam. Get. Here. Now. Jack brought Lucifer back."

Ryan's heart skipped a beat. _I knew it! I knew you couldn't trust angels or nephilim. _

**_Please leave a review, it will make my day._**


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